I recently accepted a nomination for 1st and 2nd vice president of the USACA. Shortly thereafter, a friend forwarded me the link to your slate's website. I must say, I fully support the mission of your slate. Frankly, I do not believe I will receive many (if any) votes. However, I wish to express my support for your goals; I believe that the current administration has done a horrendous job with cricket in the United States. If there is anything I can do to support your slate, please let me know. A bit about myself: I was born and raised in the United States. I grew up playing baseball, and began playing cricket after my Australian roommate introduced me to the sport in college. I have now played with the San Diego Cricket Club (Southern California), Marin Cricket Club (Northern California), and Honolulu Cricket Club. I am particularly interested in a diligent development of domestic cricket, as I believe it is key to furthering the goals of the USACA in the international arena. Thank you for your time, and best of luck to you and your slate.

It gives me great pleasure to write this testimonial on behalf of Shahid Tahir whom I have known for the last many years.

Shahid is an honest, upright and committed individual who works passionately for community causes as well as betterment in whatever endeavor he chooses to select. He is a man of integrity and an efficient and very successful entrepreneur and administrator having successfully created a very enterprising business in the health care industry in the United States.

He is always in the forefront in helping in humanitarian causes as well and it has been a real pleasure to have known and worked with Shahid over the last decade.

I am very confident that Shahid would do a great deal for the cause of cricket in United States and fulfill his responsibilities with great integrity and honor.

I wish Shahid Tahir every success in his bid for the Vice Presidency of the United States Cricket Association.

It’s been two years since I have been involved with (USACA) as their cricket coach, when I took the side to Toronto Canada, to participate in a five-nation tournament. Since then, I am afraid US cricket has taken a nosedive, in terms of making progress and developing cricket in the various regions.

In my humble opinion, I can only suggest (USACA) cricket needs some drastic changes, in all departments to bring US cricket again to the surface. They need to bring in some fresh faces who could be more responsible and committed, people who are more focused, knowledgeable about the game, and know how to run such an important organisation with a great deal of responsibility.

It has come to my knowledge, that in the near future, the general election is taking place, to nominate new office bearers. It is important for every cricket lover and supporter of US cricket to think hard and fair to bring in the right people, who are really dedicated to the game and can bring good laurels for the betterment of US cricket.

Mr. Shahid Tahir, is a businessman from Pakistan who has been living in Detroit Michigan, for the last 15 years. I’ve personally known him for the last five years, and we have been working together to promote some potentially good cricketers, who are not only poor, but who need some recognition at the national level in Pakistan. I am pleased to say with his help, one of them “Abdul Raoof” recently represented Pakistan against Zimbabwe. And another half dozen are currently playing first-class cricket in Pakistan. The above information gives you some idea how dedicated this person is, and who took a personal interest and the time to financially support those players. If he can do that by simply sitting here in America, just think what he can do for US cricket in general!

Mr. Shahid Tahir is young man with a great vision and enthusiasm and who wants to put US cricket where it belongs – on top. He is a man with fresh ideas and the drive to promote and develop cricket, in the USA.

I personally think that he’s your man, who can take USACA cricket to great heights. He's a man of vision, drive, enthusiasm, and the will to succeed; with a promise to put US cricket on top, where it belongs.

In my latest book, "Corridors of Uncertainty," published by Harper Collins in 2007, I wrote of efforts that are serving to set the stage for a possible 'moment of departure' for cricket in the United States.

Notable among these efforts, as I wrote in the book, was the work done by Ram Varadarajan in 2006 and 2007 when he organized the National U-15 tournament in America.

Not only did many young cricketers of America have their first taste of competitive cricket, Ram and his team proved that they were extremely capable organizers. As the Chairman of the Tournament Committee, Ram and his team mobilized volunteers and sponsors to make this tournament a huge success. Some 3,000 people watched this U-15 event, in a special live web cast, an accomplishment for a junior cricket event anywhere in the world.

As a historian, I have written about many possible moments of departures in the history of cricket. From the days cricket was played in Hambledon, whenever breakthroughs have occurred, it was because people of vision took it upon themselves to bring about change. Change agents in cricket have always been people whose focus was on the future, gentlemen who are not burdened by the baggage of the past.

With Ram Varadarajan stepping forward to take charge of USA cricket, I feel stronger than before that change is around the corner for USA.

As the great American broadcaster Donald McGannon once said - Leadership is about action and not position.

Ram Varadarajan has proved that he is a man of action. If he wins, the 'moment of departure' might just be March 29th.

Boria Majumdar, D.Phil, University of Oxford
Editor-International Journal of the History of Sport
IAS Fellow, La Trobe University, Australia
Visiting Lecturer, University of Chicago (Summer of 2007)

I have known John for over four years as a member of the HCCA. John has been a most inspirational organizer and leader both for the club, the district organization where he was a founding member and at a regional level where he has been instrumental at organizing and supporting a recent western regional tournament.

These achievements are a very small example of the maturity, leadership and energy John has applied to all the cricketing communities he is involved in. From the arduous process of creating a plan and getting approval for the new ground for the HCCA club (one of the best in Texas) to gathering sponsors John has constantly focused on making cricket a more entrenched and well organized minority sport.

My company will continue to sponsor leagues and clubs based on the remarkable procedures and cooperative spirit of the cricketing communities he has helped, in fact driven. His achievements are even more remarkable given that he is a very engaged and successful serial entrepreneur and he has decided to dedicate a significant amount of time, energy and expertise to a sport that has such potential upside in the US .

I could not recommend more highly John for a wider role of responsibility inside the larger realms of a national organization. He is a most rare asset.

When you meet with Ram and discuss cricket and it's management with him you will come to know how deeply he understands the game, its nuances and issues that plague a cricket organization. He has a very rare combination of ultimate knowledge of the game and a vision to manage and run a cricket organization.

I met him once and I drove him 75 miles south of Denver, Colorado to meet our league's president. While driving I was amazed to see the similarity in our views and his masterful awareness of the USACA politics. His commitment and vision of youth cricket has a great chance of being very successful; he wants to start with 11 years old kids, provide them state-of-the-art coaching for 7-8 years and prepare them to compete in the Under-19 World Cup.

Ram suggested that he would like to create many short term volunteer position and would fill them all with people from across the USA. I think such an idea is a very good way to involve a bigger cricket loving segment into USACA management.

We have many USA universities having cricket teams which participate in the local leagues, he has a vision and a very practical plan to engage all of these universities into talks to start a cricket scholarship. This might sound a far stretched goal but I think by involving cricket loving alumni of these schools (as he explained it to me) this can definitely be done.

We all have a chance to make a difference in the USA Cricket setup now, I urge all the league presidents to look beyond their biases and vote those who have track record of success and possess tools and education to deliver what is best for the USACA as an organization. Remember that fifty years from now it will not matter how many players from a specific region played in the USA team but how many young cricket players our leagues across USA produced. This election is all about planting the seeds of next generation and I can not think of a better set of folks than this team.

I know John Thickett since 2004; then I was president of the Colorado Cricket League (www.coloradocricket.org) and he was representing Central Texas Cricket League. These were the times when we were trying to set some direction and operating standards for the Central West region. John has always played a very vital and positive role in the region.

John's experience in the American corporate will guarantee that we will see implementation of the transparent policies in the USACA treasury which in turn will foster strong confidence in the USACA leadership.

John's honesty and enthusiasm coupled with his background in finance means that we will have someone in USACA not only managing books correctly but also making an effort for the strategic fundraising too. John also holds the same post (i.e. treasurer) of the Central West region which only adds to his already very impressive resume.

I have known John Aaron for approximately 10 years through my vast involvement in cricket in the New York Metropolitan area and the United States . I have grown to know John as an individual of true integrity and dedication, be it family, work or cricket and is well respected by his peers. He is a college education administrator in New York City and currently the president of the Eastern American Cricket Association for which my club is a member. John’s leadership in the EACA and within the New York cricket leagues has resurrected the Inter-league tournament in 2007 which has been dormant for almost five years and, also, I should add that the EACA were the champions for that tournament.

John himself is a member of the Atlantis Cricket Club in the Eastern American Cricket Association and through his hard work, dedication and leadership, Atlantis Cricket Club is involved in a number of humanitarian efforts including Habitat for Humanity and an educational scholarship fund in memory of a member’s daughter who died in the September 11, 2001 World Traded Center tragedy. He is also involved in promoting many social activities including cricket within the community through his column with local newspapers and editorials. John served as chairman of the USACA League President's Reconciliation Commission. He also served on the 2006 USACA Constitution Review Committee.

He has made an enormous contribution promoting cricket in the US and more specific in NY, an accomplishment that can only be matched by a few individuals. He is literally out on the field every weekend snapping pictures for his column, mingling with players and supporters trying to solicit whatever he can from them to move cricket to the next level. He not only knows and understands what is required from an administrative level but, also, from player’s perspective. He understands the needs of players and that to me as a current player and former US captain, is very important. John has been influential and instrumental in all levels of cricket in the NY region and would make an outstanding USACA Secretary, or administrator at any level. He is a hands-on administrator and understands what is required to take cricket to the next level.

Should you wish to verify this information, I may be contacted at
Tel: (516) 561 4245 or (646) 424 8156) E-mail: zamin123@aol.com

Gangaram Singh, PhD
Professor of Management & Director, Center for International Business Education and Research
College of Business Administration
SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92128